Quick answers
- Is CVE-1999-0202 exploited in the wild?
- No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-1999-0202 being exploited in the wild.
- How severe is CVE-1999-0202?
- High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 1 January 1997.
- Which products and versions are affected?
- GNU tar.
- Is there a fix for CVE-1999-0202?
- No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
- How is CVE-1999-0202 attacked?
- It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
- Am I affected by CVE-1999-0202?
- Check whether you run Gnu Tar. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.
Technical details
A command injection or remote code execution vulnerability exists in GNU tar when it is invoked during FTP sessions. The flaw likely stems from improper handling of filenames or archive metadata that are passed to the shell or system execution environment during automated FTP processing. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this by providing specially crafted inputs that trigger command execution. This allows for full system access with the privileges of the user running the tar process. While the specific root cause is categorized as 'Other' in historical records, the impact is a standard remote command execution (RCE) pattern.
Affected products
- GNU tar
Timeline
- 1997-01-01: disclosed: Vulnerability published in NVD.